40 replies to this topic

[siteseer]

danwoehr, on 18 May 2008 - 12:23 AM, said:

Tooth Puller

There is no substitute for knowledge of the geology and paleontology of your preferred collecting area. Moving a few hundred yards can often put you in a different formation, especially in a faulted area like where I live. For instance tonight I took my boy to a construction site in the Pecan Gap chalk where I saw a recently dug deep pit. The gray chalk piles beckoned and a quick look turned up a large echinoid, probably a 2 inch Proraster dalli. Although the site was out in the open, apparently nobody had yet perused it. Flexibility in schedule and diligence won't pay out every single time, but on average the payoff is pretty good.

Danwoehr,

There are micro-teeth in the Pecan Gap Chalk. Have you even found any? Bruce Welton once sent me a couple of tiny squaloid teeth from it. I have wondered if anyone was still collecting in that.

[djasper]

Very useful information. Thank you

[sseth]

Great information. I am aquiring the suggested maps for Utah and am going to use Google earth to overlay them. I think this will give a very good frame of reference for discovering new sites. Thanks

[danwoehr]

We all have a slightly different style in dealing with sites and landowners....keep it fun!

[fig rocks]

Good stuff, Dan!

[PhacopsRana25]

Great info Dan-

I'd like to add that BLM Surface Management maps can be somewhat helpful identifying whether you are on private, state or federal land. They are not all inclusive regarding information, as they are generally overlaid on 1:100,000 USGS topos (so the details are not there), but here in New Mexico they've helped friends in mild disputes (read that as no firearms involved)over land status.

[Cthulhu Darren]

danwoehr, on 11 April 2008 - 12:57 AM, said:

8. Once you've found some good sites and have taken what you need for your collection, do a few reciprocal guided trips with other collectors who have site knowledge different from your own. Practicing in this fashion I consider myself somewhat of a "site investor". I'm taking a guy out exploring this weekend to explore some high potential new echinoid sites. The next trip will be his turn to do the guiding.

Thank you! What I've found so far is that collectors have an insatiable appetite; NEVER sharing spots and hunting sites until depleted. This is just my experience so far, and mostly applies to Meg teeth. I'm in St Pete FL, btw.

[Rover]

ashcraft, on 11 April 2008 - 06:10 PM, said:

One thing I have found to find new site is google- use a keyword to your area with fossils- you will get many hits, some with locations. Google will also give you many scientific journal entries, usually not the whole thing however, you'll have to get it at your local univeristy library. These articles will often list collection locations.

Once you learn to recognize different stratigraphy, you can size up a site that you haven't been before fairly quickly.

The real key is looking, whever you are. I live in an area of loess on top of eocene clays, very unfossilferous. However, I walked to my neighbor's house this weekend for an estate auction (about .25miles), on the way back, I looked down in the road ditch, and found a 40 pound chunk of petrified wood. It could be from some cretaceous sandstone rip-rap brought in, but more likely from the eocene, as it does produce some petrified wood occasionally.

I never look up, might miss something.

Brent Ashcraft

Did something similar myself, actually - I saw my dog lying behind a tree in my back yard, went over to pet the dog, and saw a 5 pound chunk of petrified wood under the tree. Not quite the 40-pounder you found, but a nice find for South Carolina.

[jpc]

I don't now if anyone is still reading this far down a thread, but here in Wyoming I ALWAYS ask landowner permission. I usually write the landowner a letter stating my intent, and what I hope to find there and that I am not selling, but just collecting, and that I will call them in a few weeks to follow up. This has worked fairly well and gotten me access to many areas for fossil fun. So many that the summer is too short out here, and my garage is full of retirement projects. These ranchers talk to each other and it is easy enough to build up a good reputetion if you deserve it. Or a bad one. At this point I am the only one that at least two of my landowners allow access to. That is a HUGE feather in my cap. One has dinosaurs, the other has endless Eocene outcrops. And yes, some landowners ask me for money (trespass fee). I used to balk at this, but now I have a job and am willing to pay. But then these are the sites I visit less often.

I must admit, though, that I think it helps that I actually live here. But asking permission is a must in my book. And it is the scariest part of this hobby. Like asking women out, the fear of rejection can be insurmountable. If you come out west, please ask permission, or you risk ruining it for everyone.

[Ludwigia]

Hi Dan,

Great thread and very useful, not only for Newbies.
I'd like to emphasize one point which Siteseer has already touched upon, and that's making contact. Of course you can learn a lot through study and surfing, but it's all theory until you gather experience. And it's mostly helpful when you do your collecting with some colleagues who already have some experience. You learn much more quickly that way. Everybody has something to contribute and it's usually more fun (and safer for that matter) doing things together. Of course that doesn't mean you shouldn't also go off on your own. Sometimes a man needs his peace and quiet
There's usually a club of some sort in the area which one can visit, and Forums like this are great for establishing personal contacts.

Best wishes, Roger

[frozen_turkey]

THis is realy helpful but the refrences around here is so out of date and every thing is over grown so what should i do to make my fossil hunting trip tomorrow worth the time and money?

-Frozen

[danwoehr]

Look for current exposures in the area around the overgrown sites. Cross reference your old refs to geo maps and online satellite images. Unfortunately there aren't really any short cuts; there is a learning curve that goes along with all this. It gets a bit more efficient with experience however when scouting new areas I only hit paydirt about 25% of the time for various reasons outside of my control. Patient persistence and willingness to log miles and hours will put you on a collision course with quality fossils.

[frozen_turkey]

danwoehr, on 12 July 2010 - 02:41 PM, said:

Look for current exposures in the area around the overgrown sites. Cross reference your old refs to geo maps and online satellite images. Unfortunately there aren't really any short cuts; there is a learning curve that goes along with all this. It gets a bit more efficient with experience however when scouting new areas I only hit paydirt about 25% of the time for various reasons outside of my control. Patient persistence and willingness to log miles and hours will put you on a collision course with quality fossils.

Thanks for the repply. I sould be more experiance with looking for exposurs, but i have been searching a local quarry for the last 2 years that keeps on yelding cool stuff. So i had no reason to look, but now they have some fancy new rules about visiters. So Iam kicked out of that site.

-Frozen

Edited by frozen_turkey, 14 July 2010 - 11:49 AM.

[frozen_turkey]

Hay guys i yesterday went on my trip today and i did my home work before i left and you wouldnt beleive what i found. I was driving around and stopping at exposures here and there, but i wasn't finding mutch until i looked in this one creek. And there i fond streight cephalopods, but just not a few HUNDREDS EVEN THOUSANDS OF THEM. I was steping on them and every thing there were that many. Then i found a road cut and there were even more it was realy eciting and that was basicly my first time going way out to look for fossils. And some of the c-pods were hollow and had these deep red crystals in them.

Also here is a basic etimated number of what i found at those two places.

c-pods: 500 (there were too many to collect them all)

gastropods: 12

corals: 1

alge: 1

trilos: 1


-Frozen

Edited by frozen_turkey, 15 July 2010 - 11:02 AM.

[Auspex]

frozen_turkey, on 14 July 2010 - 12:00 PM, said:

Hay guys i yesterday went on my trip today and i did my home work before i left-Frozen

Did you come up with a name for the formation?

[danwoehr]

Sweat equity has its rewards. I'm glad you got to experience the thrill of tracking down your own virgin sites. This is perhaps the biggest draw to the hobby for me. I'd like to see pics of your better finds.

[frozen_turkey]

danwoehr, on 14 July 2010 - 01:11 PM, said:

Sweat equity has its rewards. I'm glad you got to experience the thrill of tracking down your own virgin sites. This is perhaps the biggest draw to the hobby for me. I'd like to see pics of your better finds.

Ill post a thread for them once i have all the mud and clay washed off!!!!

Oh and it do have the name. Its called the Upper Ordovician Maquoketa formation, and do to some reaserch i did on the area the majority of the fossils I found seem to came from the Elin, clermont, and Fort Atkinson member.

-Frozen

PS But here is a preview (these are only half what i have these are only the clean ones.

Edited by frozen_turkey, 15 July 2010 - 11:00 AM.

[Auspex]

Now we're talkin'; good job

[danwoehr]

Yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about....."to the motivated go the spoils'...

[frozen_turkey]

Thanks

Im planing a trip back to the site to see if i cant find were the C-pods i found in the creek bed are eroding out of. Because they seem to be in better condition and are more stable then the ones dug out of the road cut. But the ones in the creek are not hollow and are lacking the deep red crystals that are found in the hollow ones that i dug out of the road cut. Unforinetly i need to sell some of the stuff i found to get money for the gas. So if anyone is interested.........

-Frozen

Edited by frozen_turkey, 15 July 2010 - 04:59 PM.